Wow Classic Layering

Not to be confused with Layer.

Layering is a game design tool that prevents player overcrowding in outdoor areas of World of Warcraft: Classic. Tutuapp snapchat download. It is effectively the same as sharding, but covers the entire outdoor world of a realm.

Behavior

At the launch of Classic, players on overcrowded realms were grouped into different 'layers'. Each layer is a copy of the outdoor world,^[1] with minor differences:

Players can only see other players on the same layer.
Each layer has its own set of NPCs. As such, rare NPCs may respawn at different times on different layers.
Each layer has its own set of objects such as herbs and mining nodes.

However, while layering (i.e., continent-wide sharding) reduces the frequency of sharding, it creates economy-breaking exploits, diminishes immersion and community and breaks World PvP in Classic WoW. Perhaps the most serious problems caused by layering are around the economy and World PvP. Blizzard has rolled out another Layered Realms Update to World of Warcraft Classic, aiming to crack down on players' ongoing exploitation of the population management technology, which creates.

Layering in Classic WoW. During the Summit that happened last week, Blizzard revealed more details about how they plan on reacting to the large influx of players during WoW Classic launch. Their plan consists of a new technology developed exclusively for Classic: Layering.
To address the longest queues on some WoW Classic realms, we’ve just implemented layering and character creation restrictions. The following realms are now layered and unavailable for paid character transfers or new players.

Players can move to a different layer by joining a party with a party leader on a different layer.^[2]

Blizzard originally intended to merge the layers of each realm before Phase 2.^[3] This was made effective in November 13, 2019.^[4]

Patch changes

Patch 1.13.2 (2019-08-26): Added.

References

^Wowhead - Blizzard Clears Up Layering Tech Misconceptions in Classic WoW
^Anshlun 2019-05-14. Layering in Classic WoW. Wowhead. Retrieved on 2019-05-15.
^perculia 2019-08-21. Blizzard Clears Up Layering Tech Misconceptions in Classic WoW. Wowhead. Retrieved on 2019-08-22.
^Wowhead - All Realms Down to a Single Layer in Classic WoW

Retrieved from 'https://wow.gamepedia.com/Layering?oldid=5539934'

For other uses, see Sharding.

Sharding is a game design tool created to prevent player overcrowding in outdoor areas of World of Warcraft, and improve server performance.^[1]

1Behavior

Behavior

When too many players are in an area, the game automatically creates a new 'shard,' a copy of that area. Players entering the area will be placed on the new shard. The world appears identical from the player's perspective, with minor differences:

Players can only see other players on the same shard.
Each shard has its own set of NPCs. As such, rare NPCs may respawn at different times on different shards.
Each shard has its own set of objects such as herbs and mining nodes.

Shards can be any geographic size but are usually limited to zones or smaller areas. The borders of a sharded area are invisible to players.

By design, players usually do not notice when the game moves them between shards, but players may notice NPCs momentarily disappear.

Sharding is enabled on all retail World of Warcraft normal realms. Sharding is disabled by default on retail RP realms to facilitate player-run events, but Blizzard occasionally enables it on these realms for server stability when needed.^[2]

Sharding and parties

When joining a party or raid party, all party members are automatically moved to the leader's shard, but only if they are in the same zone as the leader. This and toggling War Mode are the only known ways for players to move themselves to a new shard.

Comparison to related tools

Phasing is distinct from sharding. Phasing refers to the changing of the world's appearance to match the player's current progress in the story. For example, the area surrounding Wrathgate appears different depending on whether you've completed the Wrathgate questline. But similar to sharding, players in different phases cannot see each other.

Layering is the same as sharding, but affects an entire realm, covering all zones. Layering was used to alleviate overcrowding at the launch of World of Warcraft Classic, but was later removed.^[3]